Brigham Young University Journal of Public Law Volume 4 | Issue 1 Article 8 3-1-1990 The ndeU rground Conflict: Should Caves Be Designated as Wilderness? Lorenzo Miller Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.law.byu.edu/jpl Part of the Land Use Law Commons, and the Natural Resources Law Commons Recommended Citation Lorenzo Miller, The Underground Conflict: Should Caves Be Designated as Wilderness?, 4 BYU J. Pub. L. 133 (1990). Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.byu.edu/jpl/vol4/iss1/8 This Comment is brought to you for free and open access by BYU Law Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Brigham Young University Journal of Public Law by an authorized editor of BYU Law Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Underground Conflict: Should Caves Be Designated as Wilderness? I. INTRODUCTION In the southern regions of New Mexico, miles from any interstate, lies Carlsbad Caverns National Park. On arrival at the park, visitors are informed by radio that the three-mile tours through the cavern are strenuous and difficult. But visitors can cut the distance and difficulty by using the park's elevators. These motorized vehicles bypass the first mile of winding pathways, allowing access to all those wishing to see the cavern's many vistas. Approaching the cave, one notices that the mouth of the cave is tremendous, spanning 100 feet in width and approximately 60 feet in height. The trail winds its way down the throat of this massive pit that rapidly envelopes visitors in stone. The outside world becomes lost as one descends underground. Below the surface, a vast array of cave decorations and marvels fill the immense space carved out of rock. The roof of the cavern rises to over 200 feet in height, and artificial lighting illuminates the cave decor which becomes more intricate and delicate with depth. Soda straws, stalactites, stalagmites, columns, flowstones, draperies, rimstone, and shelfstone have formed from calcite deposited over thousands of years. 1 Every bend is stunningly beautiful. The lighting adds color and life to the pitch-black cavity, and many of the formations join to create artistic sculptures. Visitors spend hours just naming the different decorations found along the trails. Unknown to most park visitors, another more pristine and possibly more scenic cave lies nearby, virtually unspoiled by human presence. Lechuguilla, as named by those few who have actually entered, is more beautiful, longer, deeper, and contains decorations not seen in Carls­ bad. Some of its depths and various decorations are unique and found in only a few caves throughout the world. Currently the National Park Service (NPS) manages Lechuguilla as wilderness, supposedly "stopping the destructive exploitation that 1. For definitions of the various cave formations, see generally W. WHITE, GEOMORPHOL­ OGY AND HYDROLOGY OF KARST TERRAINS 220-63 (1988). 133 134 B.Y.U. JOURNAL OF PUBLIC LAW [Volume 4 Carlsbad receives."2 This management policy currently allows only "experienced" cavers to enter, preservmg the cave for future generations. One might ask, "What could be more wonderful?" But something about this idea is wrong. Does society want to designate caves and un­ derground caverns as "wilderness"? Is that what "wilderness" is all about? Reflecting on the thought, one must soon realize that if the NPS continually manages Lechuguilla as wilderness, most Americans will never be able to visit or enjoy the vast decorations and wonders con­ fined within the cave. Even though cave wilderness is needed for cave preservation, the designation of cave wilderness creates unique problems of wilderness management. Because there are such problems, a compromise must be struck between wilderness preservation and cave exploitation. This compromise should be to set aside significant caves for wilderness pres­ ervation while leaving substantial portions of these caves to accommo­ date the general public. II. CAVE UsE AND PRESERVATION Today hundreds of thousands of known caves exist throughout the world; the United States alone has over 40,000 caves, 3 more than 4,200 located on federal lands. 4 Of these federally-owned lands, fifteen national parks have caves located within their boundaries.5 Millions of summer vacationers visit commercial caves, both public and private, throughout the states. 6 Mammoth Cave National Park alone receives over 1,500,000 visitors each year. 7 2. Ranger's Talk, Interpretive Program, New Cave, Carlsbad National Park, Carlsbad, N.M. (Dec. 29, 1988). 3. S. REP. No. 559, tOOth Cong., 2d Sess. 5, reprinted in 1988 U.S. Com: CoNG. & An­ MIN. NEws 5938; Davies & Morgan, Geology of Caves, U. S. Gt:m.otaCAL SuRVt:Y (GPO 1986). 4. See The Federal Cave Resource Protection Act S. 927 and H. R. 1975: A Statement Prepared by the National Speleological Society, Inc., 1 (Apr. 1987) (unpublished manuscript, available from the National Speleology Society). The United States Forest Service (FS) lands contain more than 2,974 caves, and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land contains more than 1,237 caves. See also S. REP. No. 559, supra note 3. 5. See Davies & Morgan, supra note 3, at 16-17. The National Park Service (NPS) man­ ages over 15 parks which have natural caverns, and thirty or more state parks also manage caves. 6. According to the NPS, over 5,000,000 people visit the six major National Park caves each year. These caves include Mammoth Caves, Wind Caves, Carlsbad Caverns, Jewel Caves, Leh­ man Caves, and Timpanogas Caves. See National Park Statistical Abstracts for the years 1904 through 1988, obtainable through the Statistical Unit of the Denver Service Center, National Park Service, P.O. Box 25287, Denver, Colo. 80225 (telephone: 1-303-969-2100). 7. The 1988 tourist season brought 1,636,300 visitors to the park. Information obtained from the Statistical Unit of the Denver Service Center, National Park Service (Feb. 3, 1989). Compare D. jACKSON, PLAN~:T EARTH, UNDERGROUND WoRLDS 38 ( 1982); Bessone, Welcome to the 133] CAVE WILDERNESS 135 Numerous caving clubs and speleological societies exist throughout the world. 8 The United States alone has three major speleological socie­ ties with 5,000-6,000 members. 9 These groups foster the discovery, ex­ ploration, scientific study and protection of cave resources. 10 Numerous books, magazines and articles are published each year on the joys of experiencing these underground worlds. A. Special Interest Groups and Conflict With the great number of people visiting caverns, many special interest groups have emerged. Cave entrepreneurs want to follow the footsteps of their money-seeking predecessors by developing caves to their maximum-visitor-potential. By adding elevators and walkways, dynamiting passageways, and adding handrails and lighting, these cave exploiters increase cave usage and maximize people potential. Other groups, such as the National Speleological Society (NSS), focus on pre­ serving caves for those few who dare press underground to explore the absolute darkness with only flashlights or lanterns. Great conflict arises between these two extremes: Should society designate caves as wilderness areas at the cost of excluding the majority of potential cave visitors, the seasonal vacationers with little or no cave experience; or should society exploit the natural wonders of under­ ground caverns, thus risking the permanent destruction of the pristine environment and scenic wonders now available to those few cavers who have the technical knowledge and equipment to explore without Park Service guides? The old debate11 over the "true" purpose of preserving Cave of Contention, Outside, Jan. 1990, at 15, 16. 8. j. MIDDLFTON & T. WALTHAM, THE UNDERGROUND ATLAS: ;\ GAZETTEER OF THE WoRLD's UNDERGROUND CAVE REGIONS 232-33 (1986). 9. The National Speleological Society, Inc. (NSS) has 4000 plus members, the Cave Re­ search Foundation (CRF) has 400 plus joint-ventures. The American Cave Conservation Associa­ tion (ACCA) current membership is unknown to author. See infra note 10. 10. Telephone interview with Sarah Bishop, member of both NSS and CRF, CRF Director and Chair-person of the Cave Wilderness Subcommittee of the NSS (Feb. 3, 1989) [hereinafter S. Bishop]; Telephone interview with Janet Thorn, chair-person of the Cave Conservation Commit­ tee of the NSS (Feb. 9, 1989) [hereinafter Thorn]. 11. Telephone interview with Ron Kerbo, Cave Specialist, Carlsbad Caverns National Park (Mar. 7. 1989) [hereinafter Kerbo[. See generally D. DusTIN, L. McAvoRY & ]. ScHULTZ, STEWARDs oF Acc~.ss CvsTolliANS oF CHOICE: A PHILosoPill<:AL Fm:NnATION FOR THE PARK AND RECREATION PROFESSIONAL (1982); j. SAX, MoUNTAINS WnHOt.:T HANDRAILS (1980); R. NASH, WILDERNESS AND THE AMERICAN MIND (3d ed. 1982); C. ;\I.I.IN, THE Poi.IT­ ICS OF WILDERNESS PRESERVATION (1982); James Watt, Remarks at the Brigham Young Uni­ versity Natural Resources Law Symposium (Feb. 17, 1989) (available through the Brigham Young University Law School, Public Lands and Natural Resources Forum). 136 B.Y.U. JOURNAL OF PUBLIC LAW [Volume 4 our national heritage starts anew in this "Golden Age"12 of cave science and exploration. B. Cave Protection Begins These questions may never be answered. As with the NPS, which to this day has not fully defined its purpose in our expanding society, the answers may be a reflection of societal values which never remain consistent or stable. 13 However, the mechanisms for cave protection have certainly been set into motion. As early as the 1800's, Josip Jersi­ novic14 realized that the famous Adelsberg Caves of Yugoslavia111 could not withstand constant abuse by its visitors. Accordingly, he established a commission that "regulated every aspect of the cave's operation" and protected the fragile underground environment from those who would destroy it. 16 But cave preservation was not confined to Europe. In 1903, America's interest in caves reached the United States Congress and the President, urging them to enact legislation to preserve underground caverns for present and future generations.17 Beginning with Wind Cave National Park, the United States set aside the first land to preserve a natural cavern.